Is DIY a lost art?

BySimon Damp

on 02 August, 2016

As time goes by, the art of do-it-yourself when it comes to activities around the home and garden is fast becoming more and more of a lost art.

Gone are the days of changing plug sockets, fixing broken chairs and making your own storage unit. Nowadays, itís far easier to call out the local electrician or builder or spend money replacing a faulty item.

In fact, statistics over recent years have revealed that todayís generation simply do not have the DIY skills that previous generations have. The statistics revealed that a vast amount of the younger generation donít feel confident in doing any DIY at all, while others rely on the help of others such as parents and grandparents.

Itís clear to see that those statistics have impacted some of the smaller DIY stores but also the bigger, well-known chains too. Just last year B&Q closed some of its stores, but insisted that home improvement wasnít dead, yet Homebase closed a quarter of its outlets and blamed a Ďless-skilledí generation.

At Gorilla Glue we have seen new customers emerge in the do-it-yourself marketplace as more people are now starting to own property. However, with the younger generation of DIYers, it is still proving to be a challenge. As mentioned, it is now becoming much easier, and cheaper, to pay for someone else to do the work.

Rather than call somebody out, look on the DIY market as there are many tools available which, if used correctly, can repair the item so it doesnít need replacing.

As a brand we feel itís important to help encourage the younger generation, and to Ďmake it easierí, we develop products that are easy and straightforward to use. We donít saturate the market with too many variants of glues and tapes to avoid confusion, ensuring people can do the jobs themselves, as well as making the sealants and adhesive market move.

The DIY industry is worth billions of pounds each year but its value is slowly decreasing. There is a popular saying that if you donít use something then youíll lose it, in years to come and with the rapid decline, could we ever be in a country without the DIY industry?